31/10/2025
The State of Nigerian Politics: A Reflection on Religion, Economy, and Governance (2024–2025); a Reflection by Rev Dare Oluwaniyi.
Introduction
The past 18 months have been a defining period in Nigeria’s democratic experience. The political, religious, and economic climate has undergone intense turbulence and transformation, revealing both courage and cracks in national leadership. This reflection examines how these three pillars — governance, economy, and religion — have intersected to shape Nigeria’s national story between mid-2024 and late-2025.
1. Economic Realities: Reform, Hardship, and Resilience
The Tinubu administration initiated wide-ranging macroeconomic reforms following its inauguration in May 2023, but their full impact unfolded across 2024–2025. The removal of fuel subsidies and the liberalisation of the naira were intended to correct structural imbalances and attract foreign investment. According to the World Bank (2025a), Nigeria’s economy expanded by approximately 3.9 percent in the first half of 2025, buoyed by fiscal adjustments and renewed investor confidence.
However, these reforms produced severe inflationary pressure. Food and energy prices surged, pushing millions into poverty (World Bank, 2025b). The Punch (2025) reported that small and medium-sized businesses closed at alarming rates, citing increased operational costs and reduced consumer demand.
While the administration’s monetary reforms have improved Nigeria’s external reserves — surpassing US$42 billion by mid-2025 (Reuters, 2025a) — the cost of living crisis has eroded public faith in governance. In essence, Nigeria’s economy is in a paradoxical state: the numbers show progress, yet the people feel pain. Reform without adequate social cushioning has led to frustration and disillusionment among ordinary citizens.
2. Governance and Leadership: Reform amid Fractures
Governance within the last 18 months has reflected both assertiveness and fragility. The federal government’s decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State in March 2025 — citing pipeline vandalism and security collapse — demonstrated an increasing centralisation of authority (Reuters, 2025b). Vice President Shettima later insisted that Nigeria had “exited its phase of economic instability” (Leadership, 2025), yet citizen sentiment has remained sceptical.
Nigeria’s challenge remains structural, not rhetorical. The administration’s reform narrative has not translated into measurable improvements in public welfare, institutional transparency, or service delivery. Political accountability remains weak, and the widening gap between elite prosperity and popular hardship continues to undermine national cohesion. The 2024 general strike (Wikipedia, 2024) underscored how policy decisions, even when economically justified, can provoke social unrest when communication and empathy are lacking.
3. Religion and the Political Soul of the Nation
Religion continues to play a dual role in Nigeria’s public sphere — as a moral compass and, paradoxically, a source of division. Over the last 18 months, religion has remained deeply intertwined with identity politics. BusinessDay (2025) observed that politicians increasingly leverage religious sentiment when performance and policy credibility wane. This dynamic has elevated religious institutions into political influencers rather than moral referees.
Tragically, inter-religious violence has persisted. In August 2025, an attack on a mosque in Katsina claimed at least 13 lives (Associated Press, 2025). Such incidents expose the fragility of Nigeria’s unity and the manipulation of faith by extremist actors. Vanguard (2025) aptly lamented that Nigeria may be “the most religiously dysfunctional country on earth,” given the gulf between religiosity and morality.
The critical question remains: how can Nigeria reconcile its vibrant religiosity with its constitutional secularism? The African Journals Online (AJOL, 2020) study on Nigerian secularism warned that when religion becomes the currency of politics, democracy weakens, and governance drifts toward patronage and exclusion.
4. Intersections and Reflections
Across these sectors, certain truths emerge:
1. Economic reform without social justice deepens inequality. The poor are bearing the heaviest weight of liberalisation, with limited safety nets to ease transition.
2. Religious fervour without civic ethics leads to hypocrisy. Nigeria’s faith institutions must evolve from political endorsement platforms into engines of social accountability.
3. Governance without moral courage produces inertia. The nation’s greatest deficit is not financial but ethical — a shortage of leaders who place truth above tribe and nation above self.
Nigeria’s future therefore depends not only on policy accuracy but also on moral renewal. The church and the mosque must once again become spaces of conscience — raising voices for justice, equity, and integrity.
Conclusion: The Prophetic Challenge and Hope
The past 18 months have tested Nigeria’s resilience. Politically, the nation stands between reform and resistance; economically, between progress and pain; spiritually, between faith and hypocrisy. Yet there remains a glimmer of hope.
If leaders can pursue reform with compassion, if religious figures can champion truth rather than tribe, and if citizens can rise above cynicism to demand accountability, then the Nigerian story may yet turn toward redemption.
As Rev Dare Oluwaniyi would declare prophetically: “Nigeria shall rise again when righteousness becomes stronger than rhetoric, and justice louder than jingoism.” The journey may be long, but the destiny remains divine.
References (Harvard Style)
African Journals Online (AJOL) (2020) Secularism and Religious Politics in Nigeria: Constitutional Contradictions and Civic Implications. Available at: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/og/article/download/200551/189130 (Accessed 31 October 2025).
Associated Press (2025) Gunmen Attack Mosque in Katsina, Killing at Least 13. 23 August. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/6ff4c8eb8feec8dff990eb71af7087a8 (Accessed 31 October 2025).
BusinessDay (2025) Religion Raises Political Stakes, Risks Dividing Nigerians. 17 May. Available at: https://businessday.ng/big-read/article/religion-raises-political-stakes-risks-dividing-nigerians/ (Accessed 31 October 2025).
Leadership (2025) Nigeria Has Exited Phase of Economic Instability — Shettima. 5 April. Available at: https://leadership.ng/nigeria-has-exited-phase-of-economic-instability-shettima/ (Accessed 31 October 2025).
Punch Newspaper (2025) Revenue Reforms: Nigerians Pay More for Less as Economic Policies Fuel Hardship. 10 March. Available at: https://punchng.com/revenue-reforms-nigerians-pay-more-for-less-as-economic-policies-fuel-hardship-1/ (Accessed 31 October 2025).
Reuters (2025a) Nigeria Posts $6.83 Billion Balance-of-Payments Surplus in 2024, Central Bank Says. 9 April. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigeria-posts-683-billion-balance-payments-surplus-2024-central-bank-says-2025-04-09/ (Accessed 31 October 2025).
Reuters (2025b) Nigerian President Declares State of Emergency in Oil-Producing Rivers State. 18 March. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerian-president-declares-state-emergency-oil-producing-rivers-state-2025-03-18/(Accessed 31 October 2025).
Vanguard Newspaper (2025) Religion Might Be Holding Nigeria Back. 12 May. Available at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/05/religion-might-be-holding-nigeria-back/ (Accessed 31 October 2025).
Wikipedia (2024) 2024 Nigerian General Strike. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Nigerian_general_strike(Accessed 31 October 2025).
World Bank (2025a) Positive Economic Momentum in Nigeria: Now Time to Bring Home the Gains. 8 October. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/10/08/positive-economic-momentum-in-nigeria-now-time-to-bring-home-the-gains (Accessed 31 October 2025).
World Bank (2025b) Nigeria Country Overview. 30 September. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria/overview (Accessed 31 October 2025).
The World Bank is helping to fight poverty and improve living standards for the people of Nigeria with more than 130 IBRD loans and IDA credits since 1958.
